Thursday, June 28, 2007

 

Family Camp Weekend


Our church rented this camp last weekend for our Family Camp. It isn't far from Grande Prairie but you have to drive through a series of gravel pits ((the road keeps changing) and then down a winding trail between the trees to get there. Each time we went (in or our) we got onto a different road through the gravel pits. Some people were not so successful at finding the desired destination.







Some people stayed in RV's.







Others stayed in cabins. There squared log cabins were nice.
Colleen and I went after work Saturday (supper and campfire) and came home for overnight. Then we went back for Sunday service and lunch.

What did we do there?

Colleen took pictures and enjoyed the animals. Naturally!

What did I do?


I praised the Lord with the whole group.



What else did I do?







Yep! The evidence is in. I had a snooze during the Sunday morning message.
Now, in my own defence let me say that Pastor Dan spoke on Psalm 27. He talked about letting God get our attention through the mighty acts of nature. (Read the psalm.) While we slow down and vacation, etc. during the summer, lets not forget God. Since Sunday we have had several thunders storms., including one this evening. It makes me wonder: "Who's attention is God trying to get?" It appears that person isn't listening too well!Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

 

Home Grown

Last summer, after getting the back lawn reseeded, I rearranged and refilled three planter boxes. But it was too late to plant anything. But this spring I took out the weeds (mostly quack grass) that were growing in them, giving them a good cultivating (with the spade) at the same time.
Then Colleen brought home and planted dozens of strawberry plants.

Now our labor is finally bearing fruit, real fruit. On Saturday I picked four (yes 4) strawberries. Then this evening we had a most serindipitous experience. All through all three beds were lots of lovely red berries. (It's amazing how fast things grow in 20 hour days.)

Below is a picture of the results. Well almost, the one Colleen ate off the vine is obviously not in the picture!

They were delicious, both by themselves and on ice cream!
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Tuesday, June 12, 2007

 

Horses, Harness, and Cowboy Church




On Sunday morning, Colleen and I left the house at 7:30 a.m. We drove for two hours in light rain in order to be at Cowboy Church in the little community of Cleardale, north west of here. As we arrived at the rodeo grounds the rain got heavier. Fortunately the little grandstands were covered. And the portable stage was roofed over too. I had been asked to speak at the service and that went well, except that I got a tickle in my throat half way through my talk. Even a bottle of water did not help that much.
Afterwards the rain stopped and the various heavy horse events started. In one event they had to pull a log between pylons, first with one horse, then with a team of two. Then they maneuvered wagons through an obstacle course, including backing up the wagon between two long boards.
I particularly enjoyed the six horse hitches that came out a little later. As you can see, there were several such teams, and some were very well matched. (For a better view, click on the picture.)


Here a six horse team is resting in front of the portable stage. The black decoration on the shoulder of each horse is call a "scotch top." One of these was the horse that pulled the buggy pictured in my previous blog.

Later on, some of these horses were used in the main event: pulling a steal boat filled with weights and sand. Each team of two horses would have to pull the boat ten feet to qualify for the next round, with 500 pounds being added each round. I was particularly impress with the one and only team of mules. They pulled twice their weight before having to call it a day. One teamster was a 10 year old boy who really knew what he was doing.

The secret of success seemed to be having a well trained team with an expert teamster who could get both horses to pull together at the beginning to start the boat moving. It was impressive to watch both hoses do a bit of a dance as they tightened their muscles and their harnesses aginst the weight. You could just "see" the power when all four hide legs would lean into the harness to get the job done.



Colleen introduced me to this lovely pair. Their names are Babe and Beaut. As you can see, Colleen really hit it off with them.
Babe and Beaut did well in the pulling competition, largly because Colleen gave them a good pep talk ahead of time.

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Wednesday, June 06, 2007

 

A Taste of Heaven, Again!


I had the privilege of attending the 60th Annaversary of Church of the Open Bible (my old home church) this past weekend.
The lady in the wheel chair is Mrs. Leimert. She is 101 years old. When I was about four years old, her neice had a Vacation Bible School at a one room school just down the hill from our house. From that a Sunday School started in Mrs. Leimert's home. That Sunday School later moved to our home. Rev. Don Hogman was the new young Pastor of Church of the Open Bible in Ponoka then. He came out on Sunday afternoons and led the Sunday School.

Here Rev. Don Hogman is leading singing with the help of Colleen Gadd (a shirttail relative we've known all her life), her daughter, and Mrs. Steers. I interned under Rev. Hogman when He was pastoring in Estavan, Sask. in the 1970's. He would come back and pastor the Ponoka church in the 1980's. We were there for a winter when we came out of the Yukon. He also spoke at my instalation service in Meeting Creek. So I say he's been my Pastor three times. (He recently led singing at my Mom's funeral.)


This is Todd Gadd, Colleen's husband, giving his testimony at the Annaversary service. Hearing his salvation story (through the family that would become his in-laws) was worth the trip. He cried, as did most of the congregation.
Pastor Lees (sorry no picture yet) gave the message. He was our Pastor when I was a teen-ager and took us to Briercrest Bible Institute's "Youth Quake." Hence I owe him my education, my ministry and my marriage to my wife Colleen whom I met there. When I was still in high school, Pastor Lees would make interesting little comments to me. Looking back, I realize he knew God was calling me to be a Pastor before I did!



Some of the church folk. I knew most of these people before I first left the Ponoka area.
God has been faithful to his church.
God has been faithful to his people.
God has been faithful to me!
We will see more of His faithfulness in Heaven.
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